Turkish warplanes pound Kurdish rebels in the southeast

ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish military says its fighter jets have carried out nine airstrikes against Kurdish rebels in the southeast of the country and northern Iraq.

The state-run Anadolu Agency cited the military as saying the warplanes destroyed 98 targets Friday of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Militants of the party, also known as the PKK, have waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. A ceasefire between the two parties collapsed last summer.

Since then, Turkey has witnessed a surge of violence in the southeast including PKK bombing attacks against police and military personnel as well as large-scale military operations to flush out Kurdish rebels.